“Master Chief he is the hero we aspire to be. “
343 Industries thus paints the absolute protagonist of Halo Infinite. And this is the first big news, because the previous chapter, released in 2015, had dedicated less space to our favorite Spartan, preferring a choral narrative rather than the solo to which the saga had accustomed us.
The news, however, are not limited to this welcome albeit foreseeable return to the past. Halo Infinite it is the evolution of what we have seen so far, capable of adding new elements to the ingredients already known.
Master Chief and that crack in his armor
It’s been about 18 months since the events of Halo 5: Guardians.
The war is lost. The UNSC was defeated. And also Master Chief.
The very few surviving humans strive to stay alive. And no, there is no estimate of how many there are. Nobody dares to use communication systems. It would be equivalent to signaling one’s presence to the enemies, the Exiledi.
In this depressing scenario we get to know Echo 216, a surviving UNSC pilot.
But “life” perhaps does not describe his condition well. Echo 216 is left alone. Alone in the infinity of space, in the cold, and unable to return home.
Then, one day, something changes. His ship detects something. Someone. Master Chief.
This is how we return to play the role of one of the most famous heroes in the videogame world. John 117 – this is his identifier – he is not dead yet. Indeed, he intends to do everything in his power to defeat the Exiles who have been infesting theHello Zeta, partially destroyed after the war.
The first step is simple: get the weapon. And no, here the weapon is not a rifle, a pistol or some particular device but an Artificial Intelligence that, in some ways, looks a lot like Cortana. Designed to destroy the Master Chief’s lifelong friend, the Weapon informs its new companion that it’s unclear what happened to Cortana. But John needs to know and this is where your goal becomes twofold: defeat your opponents and understand what happened to the AI that has been your ally for years.
Master Chief and the Weapon
The weapon, however, is not just a tool to reach an end. Just like Cortana, the new AI has its own personality, its own point of view, its own wealth of feelings. All aspects that resonate with the Master Chief and his past. This is where we perceive a small crack in our hero’s armor. He is always the one who throws himself into the fray, who never backs down, who wants to carry out the mission at any cost but it is difficult to forget Cortana’s betrayal and it is equally complex to be able to trust someone who looks so much like hers. old friend.
The Spartan seemed so more tormented but also much more human.
Master Chief e Echo 216
Echo 216 will also appeal to this humanity, who has decided to accompany Master Chief on his crazy mission despite going against every fiber of his being. He is a pilot, not a super soldier, and he has a family to return to, a life he would like to continue living. His priority is homecoming and this often clashes with the Spartan’s plans. The result? A conflictual relationship that serves to give greater depth to the absolute protagonist of Halo Infinite.
A world to discover
The story of this video game clings to the linearity that has always distinguished the chapters of the saga. Everything flows in one direction only, in an orderly and rigorous way, adding, as the campaign progresses, pieces that make the narrative clear. The only small digression is represented by log audio, that is, recordings scattered around the map that try to reconstruct what happened in the last 18 months, so as to enrich the context and give even more sense to your current purpose.
Yes, we wrote “map”. 343 Industries, the development studio responsible for Halo Infinite, has decided to embrace the open world, or almost. This means that the path will not be forced, that there will not always be some Pelican to take you from one objective to another and that you will not be able to rely on the portals. Master Chief walks and drives often here. And no, it doesn’t do it by following a predetermined path. The different means of transport available, both allies and enemies, and the new grappling hook it is equipped with allow the protagonist of the game to climb and move as you want, without major limitations.
This approach does not only serve to extend the time of the campaign completely. The Halo Zeta in fact allows you to deal with various secondary activities, including the liberation of the operational bases. These are outposts that formerly belonged to the UNSC and are now infested with Covenants. Taking possession of these bases will allow you to unlock rapid movement, to use them to scan the surrounding area and thus identify other sensitive targets, to recall vehicles and weapons and to provide a safe zone for the Marines still alive who, at that point, can also come to your aid.
The release of the base of operations will also allow you to earn Value, a resource indicative of your progress in the fight against the Banished with which you can unlock weapons, vehicles and more.
Exploring the environment will also help you find new weapons it’s at recover the Spartan Core with which to upgrade Chief, improving what he already has – such as the shield or the grappling hook – or equipping him with new tools such as thrusters. However, keep in mind that you can only equip one tool at a time; it will still be possible to switch in a few seconds from one tool to another but the operation is not immediate so you could risk your life in the meantime. Our tip is to experiment with them all to find the ones that best suit your style of play and combat.
Among the novelties we also have the Targets, that is enemies that have distinguished themselves for their fighting skills and that you can identify and take down. The developers have dedicated an entire section of the menu to them, equipping each target with a tab that includes appearance, biography, characteristics and weapons used. In short, if you want to become a bounty hunter, this is your chance.
The charm of the Halo Zeta
We bring to mind an event.
Xbox released the first Halo Infinite gameplay trailer last year, and fans weren’t taking it very well. Not for the content itself but for the graphics of the game. The movie in fact highlighted some small problems such as the delayed appearance of objects (the so-called pop-in) but above all a lack of care for the characters who were so poorly defined and decidedly unsuitable for the release of the title on the new generation consoles. In short, much more was expected for one of the exclusives that should make sense of Xbox Series X and Series S.
Now, a year later, has anything changed?
Luckily Yes.
The game, which we tested on PC, is still not without its flaws and pop-in phenomena recur more frequently than we would like but overall the general yield is definitely up to expectations. The main characters of both factions are well researched and animated, the hordes of Covenant no longer seem to have come out of the oldest chapters of the series and the game world offers particularly interesting views.
However, do not expect news regarding the characterization of the environment. The Halo Zeta is made up, as per tradition, of meadows, woods, bodies of water and metal, with the buildings of the Precursors that stand out to be easily identifiable even from great distances, thus giving you the opportunity to better study the path to reach them. . The view is therefore similar to what we have seen in the past but no, it does not disappoint.
Alone it is beautiful, in a group it is better
The Halo Infinite campaign can be tackled in the company of friends but it is obviously not the only activity you can do in a group. As per tradition, the new chapter also includes a full-bodied multiplayer which finally returns to galvanize fans of the saga. The approach remains the traditional one, the one we had seen and loved in Halo 3: a mix of adaptation and experience. Forget the titles in which one shot is enough to take down the enemy or those in which the choice of weapon changes the tide of battle. Here all the players are the same, all take to the field with the same equipment, after which it will be necessary to explore the map to find new weapons with which to take down the enemies. However, this is not enough: shields make killing opponents difficult so you will have to track them down, chase them and hit them repeatedly, perhaps taking advantage of the greater knowledge of the environment because yes, knowing how and where to go will help you a lot.
E the modalities? There is plenty of choice: there are classic team deathmatches, Capture the Flag and also Strongholds while for those who prefer a different experience there is Great Squadron Battleand that features 24 players. To accompany these variants of multiplayer found 10 new maps, lovingly crafted by 343 Industries, studded with vehicles, weapons and strategic points to exploit and designed to encourage the participation of all players and keep the pace of the game high.
Fun is guaranteed.
The Halo Infinite review: is it worth buying?
Let’s start with an important information: iHalo Infinite multiplayer is free. Xbox has opted for free-to-play, thus giving all players the opportunity to go wild online.
At this point the question changes a bit: is the Halo Infinite campaign worth buying?
If you are a fan of the series, the answer is certainly yes because you can find out how the story evolves and enjoy the new features introduced with this chapter.
If you have never played the saga, know that the narration is still very clear: you will be missing some pieces of the puzzle but overall you can enjoy the experience.
In conclusion, 343 Industries did a good job, however, allowing the series to evolve without distorting itself. Net of the necessary movements, typical of the open world, the game is frenetic, events follow one another quickly and there are never moments of stasis or unnecessarily long phases. If you want a few hours in the company of a great hero, Halo Infinite is definitely for you.